Kayla Linden knew her Parkview Christian team was young, but she also anticipated that they would be good.

How good?

Well, the Falcons coach received an early indication when her team won the Chicago Christian Thanksgiving Tournament.

“Seeing their caliber of play I was like, ‘Wow,’ ” Linden said. “We have a lot of potential.”

The potential is there to make history next week.

Parkview Christian, with just one senior, is 26-3 going into its regular season finale.

The Falcons, seeded No. 2 in the Indian Creek Sectional, have a shot at winning the school’s first IHSA regional title next week at Amboy.

Parkview Christian opens regional play against Ottawa Marquette, a team it has already beaten by 17, or Gardner South Wilmington. A win, and the Falcons would likely play third-seeded and regional host Amboy.

“We have looked at all the teams in our regional,” Linden said. “If we’re clicking on all cylinders there are not too many teams that can beat us. That’s if we’re doing well.”

The Falcons have four sophomores and two freshmen on their roster. Leading the way is sophomore Tessa New, freshman Rhen Staudacher and junior Abby Carlyle.

“Rhen and Abby are getting 10-14 rebounds a game,” Linden said. “They’re beasts on the board.”

Girls basketball success is nothing new for Parkview Christian. The program went 77-9 over a three-year period from 2021-2024 with a record 30 wins in 2022-2023, won the Association of Christian Schools International Tournament and took third at the National Christian School Athletic Association tournament.

But this is just Parkview Christian’s second year competing in the Illinois High School Association playoffs.

“Getting some hardware would be amazing, every team’s goal,” Linden said. “Parkview has not had any hardware in an IHSA series. We’ve done some homework, watched game film, but we’re focused on our team.”

Also in the Indian Creek Sectional, Yorkville Christian (16-11) is looking to build off winning the program’s first regional championship last season.

The Mustangs are the No. 4 seed, in a regional at Serena, but are perhaps better than their seed would indicate.

Yorkville Christian is 7-0 against Class 1A schools this season. Its nonconference schedule included four games at the Montini Christmas Tournament and a game at Class 3A fifth-ranked Dixon this month.

“We’re relying on that tough schedule to prepare us,” Yorkville Christian coach John McAdams said. “We feel pretty confident. We have the pieces in place. We just have to play to our abilities.”

Yorkville Christian opens regional play against the Newark/Serena winner; the Mustangs just won at Serena last week. Should the two advance, Yorkville Christian and Parkview Christian could face off in a sectional final; Yorkville Christian won the regular-season meeting.

Yorkville Christian is coming off a 48-42 win over Bishop McNamara, a game in which Hope commit Payton Wallin scored 32 points.

“She’s our focal piece, and everybody knows that,” McAdams said. “That’s where the younger girls, the Herron sisters [Avery and Riley], Kiana [Ogulei] have at various times stepped up. We’re not just a one-person team.”

In Class 4A, Oswego East (17-10) is the eighth seed in the East Aurora Sectional and opens with ninth-seeded Neuqua Valley at the Benet Regional on Tuesday. The Wolves beat the Wildcats 74-43 in January.

Should the Wolves win, they’d likely face No. 1 seed Benet (24-4) in a regional final.

It’s a daunting task, but Oswego East is coming off an eye-opening 73-69 at No. 3 seed Naperville Central last Saturday.

Seniors Aubrey Lamberti and Desiree Merritt, both four-year starters who could finish 1-2 on Oswego East’s career scoring list, each had 21 points in that game.

“If that doesn’t show we’re a high-caliber team I don’t know what does,” Merritt said. “We’re trying to do what we can to win. Anything can happen.”

Tenth-seeded Yorkville plays fifth-seeded Lockport in a regional semifinal Tuesday at Yorkville, the winner likely facing Bolingbrook in a regional final, while 11th-seeded Oswego faces seventh-seeded Plainfield North, a team it split two games with during the regular season, in a regional semifinal Monday with the winner likely to get regional host Waubonsie Valley in a regional final.

In Class 3A sixth-seeded Plano faces third-seeded Ottawa in a regional semifinal at La Salle-Peru Tuesday. And in Class 2A seventh-seeded Sandwich faces second-seeded and regional host Winnebago in a regional semifinal Monday.